If you enjoy the little luxuries in your life like I do, then you can probably agree that a morning adventure ride cappuccino with a view wouldn’t be a bad thing. Sure, packing light for week long rides is paramount, and sometimes it’s a toss-up between keeping the down travel pillow
over the collapsible camp chair, but, please don’t toss out my mini espresso
maker. Maybe it’s the habitual comfort of grabbing the warm mug between my cold
hands as I kick my feet up to take in the camp location view. Or, maybe it’s
the luscious flavor dancing on my tongue as I treat myself after a few grueling
riding days. Either way, I think life’s too short to skip the little luxuries.

So, grab your mini espresso maker and fill
the base with water. Spoon in one serving of the ground espresso coffee powder (it
HAS to be as fine as possible: espresso powder, NOT drip coffee grinds) that
you have packed in your food stash and tamp it into the portafilter. A tamper
is a flat tool used to compress the grind at just the right pressure. Not too
loosely or tightly packed, so that the boiling water is pressed through the
grind for the right amount of time to capture the most aromatic flavor. Set the
espresso maker right on your camp stove with moderately low heat, so the
water-steam doesn’t rush through the coffee powder. Low heat = rich &
flavorful coffee. Leave the lid open to await the black gold gusher…

Kitchen kit must-have…espresso maker.

Once the brew is finished, set the morning stimulant aside to warm up some milk
in a pot. On my rides, I pack organic powdered milk that produces a cup of milk
if 3 Tablespoons of powdered milk is added to a cup of water. Then pour your
warmed milk into your stainless steel mug or cup. Pull out your handy mini
whisk and get to whippin’, while rolling the whisk handle between your hands
like so…

Andreas whips the milk with his special buddy.

Then add the whipped milk with as much foam as your little heart desires, and add whatever sweetener your buds need. Or, if you’re a purist don’t mess with
the flavor, whatsoever. Then kick back with your masterpiece and enjoy the good life as you contemplate the day’s ride ahead.

This entry is dedicated to my dear friend Andreas Raffel who made me my first adventure ride cappuccino. Thanks Andreas, for insisting that nothing is ever too good for an adventure rider 😉

Rugged Rider & Kids Charity is currently raising money for "Project Long Underwear": providing long underwear to our troops in Afghanistan who are freezing their butts off. 100% of donation to "Project Long Underwear".